Young tourists warned over lethal holiday ‘balconing’ craze as fad claims 46 lives with Irish up to eight times more likely than Europeans to suffer

The trends involves youngsters either leaping from a balcony to a pool below or using a balcony to climb from floor to another

By Owen Conlon

19th June 2018, 7:30 am

Updated: 21st June 2018, 7:42 pm

DIPLOMATIC officials are becoming increasingly concerned at the number of Irish tourists getting seriously injured in the so-called ‘balconing’ craze.

Sources within the Department of Foreign Affairs said there was growing unease over Irish involvement in the dangerous practice, which sees participants either leap from a balcony to a pool below or use one climb from floor to another.

The recent death of Louth university student Conor Morgan is being treated as a simple accident unconnected to balconing.

However, there have been at least three other incidents featuring Irish tourists falling from balconies abroad in the past month.

The craze sees participants either leap from a balcony to a pool below — or use the balcony to climb between floors.

All but one of the victims since 2012 have been male — with an average age of 24, according to the recently published report.

And diplomats are increasingly concerned at the number of Irish tourists seriously injured in the craze.

One diplomatic source said: “Embassies across Europe are increasingly having to deal with the fallout of these episodes.

“It’s a craze that has been going on a while now and Irish kids have got in on it.”

The source added: “These kids are young, they think they’re invincible and a lot of it is being recorded on mobile phones.

“Unfortunately, some of it ends in serious injury or worse.”

The balconing trend is thought to have started among young British holidaymakers in Spain.

The problem became so widespread that the UK Foreign Office began handing out leaflets in popular resorts two years ago, with Majorca one of the hotspots for balconing.

In a short video made ahead of the peak ‘balconing’ month of June, study author Dr JJ Segura-Sampedro from Majorca’s Son Espases hospital said: “I am a trauma surgeon, the one who puts in the stitches and tries to put you back together. I just hope we don’t have to meet this summer.

“The typical story is a guy maybe 19 and 20-years-old. They are having fun and drinking more than usual and they start risky behaviour like climbing from one balcony and they fall.